Were It So Easy
by ShadowedSerenity
Summary: The Covenant are stronger then ever, but little do they know that what they thought would be one of their greatest assets would become one of their greatest threats. A threat that will aid their fall. Summary sucks but the story won't... hopefully.
1. Introduction: The Right One

**Author note **

**Hey everyone : ) ! This is my first Halo fanfic so I hope it goes over well. This is an AU Halo fic, only because I wanted to keep my and hopefully your favorite Spartan buds alive "cough" Noble Team "cough" and I wanted to experiment with all my favorite characters in the same timeframe and battles. I know this is a short prologish thing, but I wanted it to be out before my birthday.**

**I do not own Halo :'( , but I do own the OCs.**

**Hope you all enjoy : )**

They told me I made a good choice, that I picked the right one. They said I chose well in all the Spartans that I decided were the right ones for the job. But something was different about you. You took being a Spartan to a whole different level, as did those you fought beside. I didn't just pick you because of your incredible intellect or undying fire and will. Your bravery, courage, heart and self sacrifice were strong. You helped save us all, but unfortunately we could not save you. I'm glad I chose you for that mission, even though they were skeptical of you at first. But I was right about you in the end. Oh yes, I do know how to pick 'em.

**Well that has got to be the shortest thing I have ever written, but I thought it would be cool if Cortana did the intro. Thank you all for reading and I hope you all will like what the story will become. See you all next time, over and out. : )**


	2. Becoming Spartan

**Author note**

**Why hellooo everyone! (If anyone reads this…) Well this took forever… Hopefully this is good "fingers crossed". Just to make things clear, Reach has not been invaded by the Covenant or Glassed yet in this fic, this happens quite a while before that. Sorry for the major delay, I hit a block with this fic because I didn't know how to get it started then winter brake came and went, also I got an Xbox this Christmas with Reach : D so I've been a little occupied :P.**

**I do not own Halo. **

**Enjoy.**

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The young Spartan in training felt almost eager for what was to come, she was more than ready to play her part in this God forsaken war. She stood at attention with her assigned section of ten others from Zeta Company, all in their teens. None of them even flinched as Chief Mendez walked up and down the line with highly scrutinizing eyes, it was obvious that they were all well trained.

"It's that time recruits, now is the moment in which you become what you were trained to be. The augmentation is not a short process, you will be subjected to tests shots and the works when you undergo the operation. Patience is necessary." He stopped in front of the center of the line, pausing in his speech. "Now are you ready soldiers?"

"Sir, yes sir!" The group shouted automatically. The Senior Chief Petty Officer nodded with a smirk on his lips.

"That's what I like to hear. Good luck recruits, make us proud." The soon to be Spartans saluted once again and made their way to the hanger of the UNSC Spartan III training facility, ready to board the Pelican that would fly them into space.

Keira sat in her seat composed like her fellows. She felt exited, but she was also apprehensive, which was odd, the emotional conditioning each Spartan went through should have prevented that. There were just so many questions coursing through her head, another odd thing for a Spartan. _What will the augmentation feel like? What will being a Spartan feel like? What if something goes wrong? _Of course in all actuality she had nothing to worry about, the Spartan III operations had a fatality rate of zero. She stared at her hands for what would probably be the last time she looked at them as human, a pure human that is.

"Nervous already?" Keira glared at the teen sitting across from her on the Pelican.

"Ha ha, you're hilarious, Toby, just hilarious." The brunette laughed at her.

"I aim to be, Keira." She rolled her eyes and returned to staring at her hands. Toby was probably the most chatty soldier she had ever met, but at least he was good in a pinch. She thought about the rest of her section of Zeta company. Soon they would be out on the front, doing what the were made for, war.

"Buckle your seatbelts, we're about to hit major Gs in the atmosphere." The pilot announced over the com. The sudden speech snapped Keira out of her thoughts and she and the other passengers immediately followed the order and strapped themselves into the secure seats.

The flight was fast and exhilarating as the teens were slammed into their seats by the severe shift in gravity. The orbital lab station was reached by the Pelican and its cargo within minutes of entering space, leaving little time for the soon to be Spartans to think about what was to come.

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The simple medical gown worn for the operation hung about Keira's frame loosely, designed to be easy to slip in and out of. The young teen walked down the halls with a stoic expression on her face. She was ready. She remembered why she was willing to do this, the Covenant had destroyed everything she had ever loved and she wanted revenge, the typical case with most Spartan IIIs. Keira walked down the grey halls of the station with a stoic expression on her face. This was it.

She reached the end of the last hall, the door opening automatically as she neared it. The room was virtually empty save for the operation table at its center with the various equipment attached to it and the monitors that displayed the needed information. Her eyes traveled over the machine, examining it briefly before she strode closer to it. She ran her hand over the metal, pressing down lightly when her fingers reached the gel center. Keira took a deep breath, gathering her courage before she slipped the gown off. She shivered as the cool air in the room hit the bare parts of her skin, the only coverage she had was a sports bra and a pair of short shorts. She took another deep breath and sat down on the gelled table. The teen adjusted herself and pulled the metal clamp over her abdomen after pulling something from her pocket. She examined the chip briefly before placing it into the indent on the table. There was a satisfying bing and the machine came to life almost instantly. Keira lay back and watched with a slightly nervous gaze as the sets of needles adjusted themselves to the right positions. She heard the small drills near her head whirl to life as they and the other large needles inched closer to her. She set her jaw and narrowed her eyes. I couldn't be that bad.

It was that bad. She gasped in pain and shock as the drills entered her head and the needles plunged into her flesh. The long metal tubes began injecting their contents and she opened her mouth in a silent scream as her body was pumped full of various drugs that were part of Project: CHRYSANTHEMUM. She could feel her muscles getting larger, feel her senses enhancing. It was unlike anything else.

After what seemed like an eternity to the now young Spartan, the needles retracted and the restraint on her abdomen released. Keira lay still for a moment, letting the last aftershock of the augmentation pass by. When she felt ready, she sat up. Surprised at how different everything felt. She held a hand to her face, her eyes caught even the slightest detail with her now enhanced vision. The Spartan turned on the table and pushed herself off of it, landing lightly on her feet. She wobbled slightly before she adjusted to her now very large leg muscles. She replaced the hospital gown which was now quite form fitting over her enlarged muscles.

It was a while before the young Spartan was aloud to leave the operation section of the station, but it was a necessary time loss. After adjusting to her new body and being dressed in newer and larger clothes, Keira had been instructed to go where the other newly created Spartans would be for placement. Then she would be introduced to her amour. All the rigorous training and emotional conditioning finally paid off, she was now what she was meant to be, she was now a Spartan. And things were just getting started.

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**That must be the worst last sentence I have ever done then again this whole chapter isn't my best, but its just chapter one right? Please tell me what you think, it will be a few chapters before things really heat up but I really hope this turns out well, please review! I based this closely yet loosely off the "Birth of a Spartan" trailer, seeing as nothing else told me how the III's augmentations were, the only reason this chapter is here is because I wanted to explore the operation slightly. Also tell me names, I can only think of a few and I need a tone for OCs of every type so please don't be shy and do not fear I give credit where credit is do. Hope you all like it and I will update ASAP though I do have other fics to work on.**

**Thanks for reading, SS out.**

**P.S. Alert me if I have errors of the grammatical sort. I really suck at grammar and stuff… and math… So pardon the errors : ).**

**Again, sorry if this sucks but I promise that later chapters will be better.**


	3. Nova Team

**Author note**

**Hey people : ). I am late as I usually am with all my FanFics but since it's a holiday (even though its my least favorite) I decided to get my act together and finished it up. This chapter kind of sucks but it and number 1 are really the fillers to get this story rollin'. Hopefully number 3 and on will be better because its when the action and story actually start for real. **

**Italicized things are thoughts or when in quotations will be things said in Sangheili or any other Covenant language. Xs mean new scene so its not confusing when I time skip or jump from place to place, hope it helps :).**

**I do not own Halo.**

**Enjoy :).**

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Keira entered the room and was surprised to see her section of Zeta company already waiting. _I must have been the last one. _She mused to herself as she let her eyes rove over the other teens. It was odd, seeing them as Spartans but at the same time it felt right, like it was always that way. The new Spartans said nothing to each other, they just silently awaited orders. None of them could talk anyway, all swimming through their own oceans of personal thoughts. The door opened and the group of young super soldiers turned as one to see who it was, only to snap to attention when the saw that it was a ranking officer.

"At ease, Spartans." The man said as he stood in front of the group. He surveyed the small group briefly with intelligent brown eyes "My name is Colonel Anders, I will be in charge of your unit. You young Spartans are now a part of Nova Team, serve it well." The middle-aged Colonel made a waving gesture towards the door. "Your armor is a few halls down, the techs will fit you with it. When you're done you will return to the hanger. A Pelican will take you back to Onyx where you will go through brief training to get you used to your new bodies, and your suits. We're running out of time here, Spartans. It may be brief, but the training will be enough. Unfortunately we don't have the luxury of spending our sweet time training anymore." He paused, letting his eyes sweep over the Spartans again, the newest in the line of super soldiers. "See you on the other side, Spartans." The Colonel saluted once more, the soldiers returning it. Anders nodded once before exiting the room, leaving the new team behind.

**XXX**

Training as Spartans was slightly easier than training as normal humans, but it was still brutal. Keira was just thankful that it was finally over. Nova was on a planet in the middle colonies now, assisting the local forces in taking out the Covenant threat that was currently terrorizing the planet. She sighed as she dropped herself onto her designated cot. The last battle still fresh in her mind. She let herself fall back onto the mattress, not even bothering to remove any amour but her helmet. Her five Spartan squad from Nova was taking a brake after clearing a populated area of Covenant, they would move to one of the larger battle fields when their squad leader got patched up. She heard the door open and the loud metallic steps of another Spartan.

"How's Chris?" She asked with slight worry in her tone, her eyes still closed as she tried to rest.

"Oh our little squad leader will be fine, medics said he'll be back up to full strength in about an hour and then we'll be deployed to where all the fun is."

"Yeah, 'cause war is sooo much fun Toby."

"You know I was joking."

"And you know I'm not a fan of your humor." She smirked.

"Aw c'mon, Kiera!" He pouted.

"Sorry that I don't find the threat of death as fun as you." She mock defended, her smile growing.

"Die? Ha! Spartans never die!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're just missing in action. We all know that's a lie. You can't cheat death." She muttered in a quieter tone.

"Way to kill the fun." He grumbled.

"Shut up." They drifted into silence, unable to continue the conversation. Eventually Keira drifted into a light doze, letting her worries slip for the little time she had to rest.

**XXX**

The two Falcons began to descend and the sounds of battle could already be heard in the air.

"Alright, this is it. Ready?" Chris Z-516 asked his squad over the comm.

"Ready!" Came the unanimous reply. The Falcons touched down.

"Then lets go!" The squad leader ordered as he leapt to the ground. He flinched slightly as he hit, his recently healed wound still bothering him, but he shrugged it off. They had a job to do. The four other Spartans joined their temporary leader on the ground. "Sir, my squad is on the ground. What's your status?" Chris asked Nova's leader over the comm.

"Chris, thank God, you got here just in time! My half of the team is spread through the ranks. The Covies are hitting us hard in the middle of our line, but we could use another sniper, and Dan and his marines aren't gonna hold out much longer without backup. We need help now or we're not gonna win this fight."

"Understood, sir." Chris turned to face his squad. "You heard the Officer, they need help and they need it now. Lee, take the high ground and put that Sniper of yours to use. Toby, assist Dan. Amy, Kiera, you're with me. Lets move out, Nova!" The young Spartans immediately went to work, Lee sprinting to the right, Toby the left, while the other three ran up the middle. The three Spartans passed retreating med teams as they sped into the front lines, ready to take the pressure of the marines.

"Sir, we're almost to the front." Amy told their Petty Officer leader as they closed in on the large mass of dots on their HUDs. The air was thick with dust and weapon fire as they neared their destination. Keira was right behind her leader as they burst into the fray, the sounds of battle roaring in her ears.

"Look who finally decided to show up." Keira huffed in irritation as she began firing her Assault Rifle at the enemy.

"This is no time for argument, Vince. Chris, keep punching up the middle, we got you're back." The Officer ordered as sternly as he could.

"Sir." Chris acknowledged as he filled a Grunt with led. Keira primed a grenade, and tossed it into the mass of advancing enemies. She could hear the various cries of pain as the aliens were unable to get clear of the small explosive in time. She smirked behind her visor, she was made for this. They fight became harder as the Brutes and Elites began to join together against the three Spartans. Keira slammed her gun against a Brute's unprotected head, effectively crushing the ugly creatures skull. She heard the Concussion Rifle before she saw it, jumping to escape the pink and purple projectiles.

"Watch out!" She yelled as she hit the ground, the shots from the Covenant weapon hammering the ground next to where she had been. Unfortunately, Amy wasn't as quick. The rapid plasma fire struck her in succession. Launching her back as they depleted her shields and damaged her armor. The female Spartan hit the ground hard, unmoving in her dazed and injured state.

"Amy!" Chris was at his subordinates side in an instant, looping his elbows under her arms before he began to drag her back, away from the oncoming horde of Covenant. "Keira, provide cover fire!"

"Sir!" Keira quickly stepped in beside her friend, shooting down the Covies that got close enough. "Nova we need back up now!" She yelled before she caught sight of how out numbered they really were. The top side of the tracker on her HUD was completely covered in red, the Covenant had got their reinforcements. She cursed under her breath. "Scratch that, we need to get out of here. Call for evac, there's to many." The rare show of defeat hit her hard as she did her best to protect her fallen team mate.

"What do you mean, Keira? We can't back down. We cannot allow this planet to fall."

"I don't think you understand sir. Keira's right. If we don't retreat now, every last soldier will die. We need to-" Chris was cut off abruptly as the over charged blast of plasma hit his side. He staggered as his shields depleted. Keira was close, and rushed to aid him, but the Brute was quicker. She could only watched in shock as the Spikes drummed into the Spartans chest. The Brute's victory was short lived as bullets filled its stomach, it fell like its victim.

"Chris!" She shouted above the noise of war.

"What's going on?" The Officer's voice was urgent and tinted with concern. Keira felled the Brute, anger fueling her renewed violence. She stood near the two downed soldiers, it was to risky to even think about getting them away herself. "Report!" The leader of Nova snapped, trying to mask his worry with force.

"Nova Prime, this is Keira, two Spartans down. They need pick up."

"Understood." He said gravely. "Vince, and Jean are coming to assist."

"Well they need to hurry up and get Chris and Amy out of here, I can only hold them off for so long." She growled as she shot a Grunt's methane tank, the following explosion killing its companion. After spraying bullets into the line of enemies, the terrible sound of an empty clip clicked from her Assault Rifle, she cursed under her breath and rushed to reload. She paused after her clip was replaced, something wasn't right, she couldn't see any Covenant. She griped her gun tighter, her eyes scanning the tracker on her HUD and the battle field around her. Nothing. It didn't take Spartan senses to know something wasn't right. Within a split second, dots appeared on her HUD and she prepped herself for what she assumed to be a group of Brutes, Jackals, and perhaps Minor Elites coming to break the front line. She would never assume anything again.

Rav'k Ashortee looked towards the battle field with a sense of victory. This battle was all but won, it was time for him to make his move. The Elite took a glance over one armored shoulder to look at the four Zealots under his command.

"Come brothers, we must strike while the humans retreat! We take the first we come across as the Prophets have commanded." The other Zealots nodded their consent. Rav'k nodded in return and charged deeper into the battlefield, his soldiers following right behind him.

Keira heard a noise to her right an whirled, only to have a massive Elite General slam into her with its shoulder. The large alien roared as she hit the ground, activating an Energy Sword as it closed in for the kill. Keira gasped as the air left her lungs, struggling to reach her weapon on the ground before she could be killed without a fight.

Rav'k held his blade high, ready to plunge it into the Demon's chest when a thought struck him. Who better to interrogate about the humans than a Demon? He halted his swords movement midway back as a Sangheili equivalent of a smirk ghosted across his mandibles. The blue energy of the sword disappeared and he returned the hilt to the magnetic armor plating on his thigh.

Keira watched with wide eyes as the Energy Sword was pulled back. She grasped desperately for her rifle but the weapon was out of reach, and she didn't dare turn her back on the Elite. The Elite paused and suddenly the intimidating blue disappeared. Her eyes widened. Where was the violent merciless slaughter? Where was the roar of victory? The Elite was just looking at her with an odd twitch of its mandibles. She was at a loss, but she took the Elites sudden stillness to inch her hand closer to her gun as discreetly as possible. The Elite snarled and taking a step close, issued a vicious kick to her side. She gasped in pain her arms instinctively covering the throbbing area, she could feel the broken ribs and undoubtedly bruised internal organs. The alien's foot landed heavily on her chest. She wanted and tried to fight back, but she couldn't move without a searing pain tearing through her chest. The young Spartan hadn't been in enough battles to be able to shake off the pain as easily as the compat worn veterans that were the older III's, even with her newly heightened pain tolerance.

Rav'k leaned his head in close to the Demon's, a victorious snarl coming from the back of his thought as it failed to retaliate. Keira battled with the pain, but knew that even if she could strike back, the Zealot would kill her instantly. She was dead no matter what. She braced herself for the inevitable when one loud shot broke the suffocating silence. Keira turned her head to the source and her eyes widened in shock, Vince was standing a few yards away holding his DMR at the ready, Jean beside him in her own fighting stance.

"Leave her alone you bastard." He threatened. The Elite snarled and spat out something in its native tongue.

"_Kill those Demons! We will use this one as our captive._"Rav'k barked at the Zealots. They didn't give a reply, but he could tell they were moving closer to the two humans. Rav'k continued to snarl at the new enemies, keeping his captive trapped under his foot. The air shimmered in front of Vince and he barely had time to through himself backwards before the Elite materialized, swinging it's Energy Sword at his head. The two Zeta company Spartans fought hard, but the Elites not only had the element of surprise, but they were far more experience in battle. Despite being Spartans, they barely stood a chance. Keira could only watch in horror as her team mates were mercilessly slaughtered in front of her. Sounds of agony ringing in her ears. Suddenly, the fight just left her and she stopped struggling against her attacker. The Elite's weight was slowly crushing the Spartan, it was becoming increasingly harder to breath. So it was just going to suffocate her? Great, now she didn't even have the dignity of being run through with an Energy Sword. Suddenly the weight on her chest became crushing, and she struggled for air. The pressure on her lungs was building, but she was to drained to fight it. Keira embraced the suffocating darkness when it came.

January 17, 2547

Planet Luyten

Spartan Nova Team casualty report.

Amy Z-521. KIA

Christopher Z-516. KIA

Jean Z -519. KIA

Kiera Z-527. MIA

Vince Z-520. KIA

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**Well glad that's finally over. I randomly selected the planet from one of the Halo Universe planets that didn't have a glassing date. Please review! Hope you all liked it. Now that this chap is over with I'll get the others out as fast as I can. Thanks for reading! Oh and if you would like to loan your assistance, I really need Elite names, Spartan names, and human names.**

**Thanks again! Happy Valentines day! And see you next time.**

**SS out. :)**


	4. Covenant Captivity

**Hey people! Sorry I'm late with this chapter, I just don't have to much time with school, my short attention span, and my damn Xbox(A.K.A Total freetime consumer), though I promise that during the summer all my stories should be updated regularly. **

**Just to make things clear: Keira is not Noble Six, but don't worry Six will appear in the story in due time and Keira isn't just a useless OC, I put her in for a reason. **

**I do not own Halo.**

**Hope ya'll enjoy :)**

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Pain was the first thing Keira was aware of when she came to, and she groaned in response. She blinked her eyes open, trying hard to ignore the sharp discomfort coming from her badly bruised side. When the young Spartan opened her eyes she noticed that she was not were she expected to be, she wasn't dead, and she wasn't on the bloody battle field. No, in her opinion, she was somewhere much worse. The purple walls of the Covenant cell seemed to mock her, the energy field keeping her trapped within the small room, taunting her with a view of freedom. This wasn't good. Careful of her damaged side, Kiera slowly forced herself into a sitting position. Surprisingly she was still in her armor since it wasn't exactly easy to get off from the outside without the right equipment. She tried to move her arms foreword to check her armor's status but only met resistance. With an irritated growl she looked behind her to find her wrists bound in glowing energy cuffs. More great news… The Spartan pulled feebly at the bonds, letting out a frustrated growl when nothing seemed to work.

The Sangheili Ultra guarding the cell block snapped his head around when he heard a feral noise coming from the demons cell. It was awake, it was time to alert the Ship Master.

The Ultra burst into the bridge, turning heads in his direction. The white armored Elite gave a bow before the Ship Master and the General at his side.

"Ship Master, the Demon has awakened." The Elite announced, still trying to catch his breath. The Ship Master looked pleased.

"Rav'k,"

"Yes, Shipmaster?" The large Sangheili asked with a bow of his head.

"It seems our captive is ready for the interrogation, since you are the one to claim such a prize as a Demon, I am placing you in command of its interrogation." The General bowed his head once more and made to leave. "And General,"

"Yes honored one?"

"I want something that will help us achieve our Great Journey, or the consequences will be dire." A smirk danced across Rav'k's mandibles.

"I will make the Demon give us what we want, one way or another." And with that, he left the room, eager to turn his words into reality.

Keira's head shot up when she heard approaching foot steps. She knew what she was here for. The Covenant rarely took prisoners and when they did, it was to get information, and there is only one way to get information from a extremely loyal soldier, torture. She inhaled deeply, calming herself. They could try as hard as they could, but she would not give in. They would never break a Spartan.

Rav'k entered the brig with his escort, two Sangheili officers to stand guard, and two Jiralhanae to torture the Demon while he asked it questions. He strode to the cell that housed his captive, peering at it through the barrier of energy, its brightly armored form was still struggling against its bonds. It looked up to face him and his eyes met the faceless helmet.

"You'll pay for what you did to my team, Elite." A cold but distinctly feminine voice snarled as the Demon caught sight of him. He laughed cruelly in response.

"We'll see about that, Demon." He growled.

Her eyes widened in shock behind her visor. _It could speak English? _She knew that these things were smart, but to be able to reply in perfect English was something she never expected. Sure she had heard Grunts use human curses from time to time but even Grunts were intelligent enough to figure out that when a human yelled "Shit!" it wasn't a good thing, but this… This was nerve-racking. Keira did the only thing she could to cover up her surprise.

"I won't tell you bastards anything!" She snarled, resuming her struggles against the bonds.

"We will see about that." The looming General waved to his escort to open the cell, it was time to begin breaking the Demon.

The Covenant used plasma to power just about everything, and that included their devices for torture. Mjolnir armor was dented and melted against Keira's skin and she did her best to hide her discomfort. With a feral growl on of the Brutes grabbed the weakened plating on the side of her armor and pulled, successfully cracking the armor's alloy. It continued to attack the loose part until it snapped off, revealing the black body suit underneath. The rest of the Spartan's armor was quickly removed in the same manner, despite her fierce struggles.

"Now are you ready to tell me what I wish to know, Demon?" Rav'k asked the struggling soldier. Keira pulled once more at the energy bonds that attached her wrists to opposite ends of the device she was currently bound to. She glared up at the large Elite through a veil of her pale hair.

"For the last time, I'm not a demon, I'm a Spartan." The General huffed and retracted his head.

"Show her where defiance gets her." He ordered the Jiralhanae. The ape like beasts grinned as the Elite stepped back to watch.

A pain filled scream ripped trough the air, causing the Brutes to grin wickedly. Keira hung limp in her bonds, fading in and out of consciousness. Her back was covered in plasma burns from the whip like contraptions the Brutes had so mercilessly beaten her with but the worst was the shocks. She knew that electric shocks were a way Insurrectionists tended to get what they wanted when it came to information, but when it came to the Covenant it was a whole new ballgame. Her body was still slightly smoking from the heat given off by the shocks, and that only made the pain in her back worse.

"Now are you ready to tell me where your human homeworld is?" Rav'k asked smugly, confident that not even a Demon could last through this kind of torture. Keira took a shuddering breath.

"I'll die… before I tell you that…" Her head swung limply as she faded into unconsciousness. Rav'k growled in frustration.

"Perhaps we should just kill the Demon, honored one." One of the Ultras suggested as the party of Covenant warriors walked through the brig, away from the Demon's cell.

"No. I will get the information out of the Demon, but if we don't, we will still break her. We will show all that not even the Demons can withstand the might of the Covenant! I have seen them die, brother, it is glorious, but I wish to see them break. I think perhaps that would be even better" The Ultra could only nod, though even he thought it was impossible to break a Demon.

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**Sorry for such a short chapter, but I wanted to give you guys something instead of nothing. If you are wondering what the hell I was trying to describe the torture device as its kind of similar to the one in Halo 2, but obviously not as big and ceremonial. Hope you all liked it :D! And pleeeaaase if you have Elite or Human names suggest them! My brain hit's a wall when it comes to that department especially Elite names.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**SS out.**


	5. Never Forget

**Author note**

**Sorry that this chap is so short, but don't worry, next chap will be a lot longer and it is also when my plan actually comes to play. I forgot to put the X's marking different scenes in the last chapter, tried to fix it but well yeeaaah… But don't worry, this chapter and its followers will have the helpful X's :)****.**

**I do not own Halo.**

**Enjoy :)**

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Rav'k stepped into the bridge, unable to mask his foul mood.

"Ah, General, how did your… _interrogation_ go?" The gold armored Elite kept his temper in check, as much as he disliked the shipmaster, he wouldn't dare to lash out against a hire ranking officer for risk of being branded as a heretic.

"The Demon is strong willed, it will be hard to break, but that was expected. Do not worry Shipmaster, I promise you that we will get something useful out of this Demon yet.

"I would hope so General, I am taking a risk even having one on my ship." The Shipmaster returned to looking at the screens that displayed the vacuum of space outside. "In a days time we will dock at a refueling station. If the Demon hasn't spoken by the time we leave the station, kill it, or take it to a different ship. Its heretical blood is not worthy to live on my ship. Now leave." He commanded, his mood suddenly hostile. Rav'k gave a bow and did as he was told, the automatic doors of the bridge closing behind him and his entourage

XXX

Nashu Moramee was impatient, and everyone on his ship knew it. The shipmaster sat in his suspended chair in the bridge tapping two long clawed fingers idly on his seat's armrest. When they got to the refueling station, he would find a way to get rid of that pesky General Ashortee. The Elite General was to idealistic for his own good and Nashu was tired of having the golden clad warrior come up with some new nearly heretical idea every time they went to Glass a new planet. He had to find someone to take the troublesome Elite off his ship, another Shipmaster would have to take him, or Nashu would deal with Rav'k in his own way.

XXX

_The air was peaceful on Onyx, the light breeze causing the grass to sway gently. Keira lay on her back, gazing at the stars. She felt at peace, something she hadn't felt since before she volunteered for the Spartan program what seemed like a lifetime ago. Maybe this was what the end felt like. She sighed. Looking back at the stars she wondered if her team was still out there. No, it was most likely that they were dead._

"_Don't you remember?" A familiar voce asked to her left, she let the side of her face be cushioned by the grass as she faced Toby._

"_Remember what?" She asked in a calm voice._

"_Spartans never die," He trailed off._

"_They're just missing in action." She finished._

"_That's right." He said with his signature smirk._

"_But you're gone, and so is Nova." She looked away. "I wish I could join you." She said wistfully._

"_No, you don't. You have to stay strong Keira, stay strong for us. You're a Spartan, never forget that. You can't just give up."_

"_I don't know if I have the strength, Toby." She admitted sadly._

"_Of course you do, just remember us." His hand covered hers, but she couldn't feel the contact, she could only watched as he began to grow transparent._

"_Don't leave me alone here." She begged as she watched him slowly fade away._

"_Remember." He disappeared with the next breeze, like ashes in the wind. "Never forget." His voice whispered on the wind before the calming scene faded into nothingness._

Keira's eyes snapped open. She was lying face down in her cell, and as the fogs of unconsciousness cleared, the pain of her wounds returned sharper than before. The young Spartan just lay there, trying hard to ignore the pain.

"I'll keep fighting… I promise you, Toby." She whispered into the cold cell as she waited for the torture to commence again.

XXX

The Brutes grabbed Keira's arms roughly and hauled her into a kneeling position, one pulling her head back by her hair, forcing her to look up at the agitated General.

"Good news, Demon, we are going to stop at a refueling station in twenty-four hours."

"And that's good how?" Keira asked in an irritated tone. Rav'k bit back a growl.

"It means that we are moving ships. This Shipmaster has lost patience having a Demon on board, he views it as heretical. I will find a more open-minded Shipmaster who will allow your presence on his ship until you are broken."

"Sounds fun, to bad you'll never be able to break me, Elite." She spat, glaring defiantly up at her captor. His four fingered hand was around her throat before she could blink. The Elite easily hefted the unarmored Spartan off the ground, bringing her to his eye level.

"I will break you, one way or another." He snarled before throwing her brutally to the ground. Keira rubbed at her neck as she struggled to get her breath back. "Make her beg for mercy." He ordered angrily. The Demon's defiance would end now.

XXX

The plasma burned away skin and Keira let out a hiss of pain. She struggled, her body instinctively thrashing, trying to get away from the burning torment.

"Is that all you g-got?" The Spartan managed to taunt.

"I grow tired of your insolence!" Rav'k snarled, losing his grip on his patience and temper.

"What are you going to do about it, Elite? Kill me? You told me yourself that you don't want that."

"Silence, Demon!"

"You Elites call yourselves honorable, murdering thousands of innocent people, torturing them, destroying planets. You call that honorable? Elites are the most dishonorable things I've ever come into contact with, and you… you are the worst of them all." Keira's sharp spoken jabs didn't come without consequence. With a roar of anger, Rav'k hit the side of the female Spartan's head hard. Keira's head swung to the side as her world was consumed by a deep darkness from the force of the blow.

Rav'k breathed deeply, calming himself.

"When we reach the station, find me a new ship." His two Ultra guards placed their fists over one of their hearts in a salute before exiting the cell with the Brutes.

"When you awake, Demon. You are going to see things my way, I won't rest until you do."

* * *

**Dun dun dun! Well hope that was a decent filler chapter. I'm going to try to get the next chap out ASAP, but you all know how it is. Thanks for reading and I'm still open to ideas and such. The next chapter will be longer. **

**SS out.**


	6. Corrupting the Demon

**Author note**

**Sigh… I know this was late, but there was much going on. School took up most of my time, then Mass Effect 2 (hahaha yeeeaaah), my "summer is finally here! :D" routine,watching E3 (Halo 4! YEEEEESSSSSS! XD and ME3 :D), and my priority writing projects. So, I apologize to you readers. I'll try and make the chapters longer in the future, or at least get out more of them.**

**Thank you all for reading and know that I apreciate your reviews (they make me want to get chapters out faster because I know ya'll care ;).)**

**Only one more chapter until Six comes into the picture : )! **

**Enjoy : )!**

* * *

The Shipmaster strode down the purple halls of the Covenant destroyer towards the brig. When he had accepted the General Rav'k Ashortee onto his ship he had also obtained a new addition to his cell block. The General had told him that it was a female Demon, but she had been placed in her cell immediately while she was still unconscious. The Shipmaster couldn't help but wish to see one of the heretical Demons out of their signature armor. The Elites standing guard stepped aside as he entered the brig heading straight for the Demon's cell.

XXX

_Purple…? Why is there purple?_

_Where am I?_

_Who am I? _

_What happened?_

_What's going on?_

XXX

The Demon's cell was poorly lit and the Shipmaster strained his eyes to see the creature on the other side.

"Hello?" A weak voice suddenly called out. The Shipmaster froze, this was not the reaction he was expecting. "Where am I?" Amber eyes widened even further. _What's wrong with her? She's a Demon, I expected threats and anger… but this, this is unbelievable! _"I know someone's there."

"I'm here." The Elite stated before activating the cell lights. He saw the Demon's eyes adjust to the light and focus on him.

"Where are we?"

"You are on my ship, the _Retribution's Thunder_ "

"How did I get here?" The Shipmaster said the first thing that came to his mind, and immediately regretted it. He had no idea that those words would be something he would regret for a long time.

"One of my soldiers rescued you."

"From what?"

"I'll explain later." He quickly cut in. "I must go now, I will returns soon.

"Can you let me outta here first?" She asked in a slightly humorous tone. The Shipmaster let out a small huff.

"Were it so easy." He replied before turning to go.

"Wait!" With a sigh the Elite paused.

"Yes?"

"What's your name?" The Demon asked with an innocence he knew a Demon could not possess.

"Thel, Thel Vadamee." He said over his shoulder. Something was wrong with the Demon and he intended to find out what, but for now he would lay along. He needed to find Ashortee as quickly as possible, he needed to get to the bottom of this, and find out what to do with this strange Demon…

"Well then thank you for saving me, Thel. From whatever it was." She said with a smile before sitting back in her cell and waving a goodbye at the large Elite's retreating back. She didn't know where she was or who she was, but she felt safe knowing that she had been rescued by this alien, and she would do whatever she could to repay that debt of kindness.

XXX

"Ashortee!" A stern voice rang out through the command center of the ship. The General's head snapped up at the sound of the Shipmaster's distinct voice. He moved away from the map of a human world and saluted Thel.

"Yes sir?"

"What is the meaning of bringing a Demon aboard my ship when she doesn't even know what anything is!"

"Sir?"

"She has no memory of anything! That, or she's smart enough to fool me."

"No memory?"

"Yes, General, no memory. Now tell me, how did this happen?" Thel hissed. Rav'k knew what the punishment would be if he told the other Sangheili the most probable reason for the Demon's memory loss, so he did something he did well, he lied.

"She riled up one of the Brutes and the beast hit her head, sir." Thel continued to glare.

"You do realize that we have lost valuable information because of this Demon's memory loss, all because you couldn't keep your Brutes in check! I hope you have a solution to this problem, Ashortee. I would hate to lose a soldier of your caliber." The Shipmaster said in a dangerously calm voice. Rav'k couldn't help but smirk at the idea forming in his head. _Yes, that would be perfect._

"I have an idea, honored one. You must trust me though, Shipmaster." He paused. Thel gave him a long scrutinizing look before nodding his head. "Let me speak with the Demon."

XXX

She sat in her cell, patiently waiting for the kind alien to return while trying to remember what happened before se awoke on this ship. Her brows furrowed in concentration as she willed the memories to return. She only succeeded in giving herself a headache. She was still rubbing her temple when suddenly the blue shield that posed as the door to what she believed to be her room flickered and disappeared. Grey eyes shot up to see who was entering her cell. It was an alien like Thel, but its amour was different and it was slightly shorter than her previously made acquaintance.

"Who are you?" She asked curiously as the alien walked towards her. The large figure knelt down in front of her before replying.

"I am the one who led the team that rescued you from your treacherous kind. My name is Rav'k Ashortee, a Sangheili General in the Covenant army. Your people left you to die, they had turned against you, and would have succeeded in killing you if my squad hadn't arrived when it did."

"I was… left to die?" She asked as her mind tried desperately to remember. _Left to die… But I fought for my people. Fought against… something in defense of my people, and they leave me to die? _"But why would they do that to me?" She asked desperately, nothing made any sense…

"Because to your people you are a killing machine, a demon, a monster they created to defeat us. They feared you, and at your weakest moment, they abandoned you to your fate. I saw potential in you, and I took pity. That is why you are here." Rav'k finished, with faked emotions that could have had anyone fooled, anyone except Thel. The Shipmaster could only stare at his General in anger, this was not honorable. He chose to stay silent however, he saw where Rav'k was going with this and a Demon of the Covenant would be a great asset against humanity indeed.

"I can't believe this…" The young Spartan

"But there is something I must ask you," Rav'k continued. Thel looked at him skeptically. "we are at war with your kind, they have fallen away from the right path, shunned The Great Journey, the only way to protect other species is to destroy yours. Will you help us? Will you seek revenge against a people that abandoned you and left you to rot? Will you tread the right path?" He asked, extending a four fingered hand towards her. Keira took a moment to let her thoughts process. She had no memory of the truth, but these creatures had saved her life, given her safety, and offered her a chance for payback. Perhaps her memories would come back one day, but until then, she had made her choice. She extended her hand and grasped the alien's larger one. He hefted her onto her feet, and although she was shaky at first, she eventually found her balance.

"I will help you, and repay my debt to you and your crew," She said decidedly. "and to seek revenge." She added darkly. Thel nodded, though something in the back of his mind told him that this would go wrong. He chose to ignore that feeling.

"Very well. We will dock at High Charity, our Covenant's holy city, and you will be judged by the Prophets. In the end, the decision of what to do with you is theirs. Can you except that?" She nodded, a determined fire in her eyes.

"Rav'k will escort you to the barracks and inform the crew that you are a friend and that if you are harmed in any way, it is labeled as treason and punished as such." General Ashortee gave a Sangheili salute and bowed. "One more thing," He addressed Keira. "What should we call you?" The Spartan thought hard. She had a name, didn't she? _Why is it so hard to remember? _She picked at her brain, searching for anything that sounded like a name. She bowed her head in thought and felt something bump the skin of her chest. She touched her neck, feeling metal. She pulled gently at the chain, revealing a set of tags. Dog tags. Her mind told her. She inspected the smooth metal surface.

_Keira - Z527_

_UNSC_

"Keira," She said unsurely. "My name is Kiera."

* * *

**Thanks for reading and bearing with my lack of recent updates : (. This story should really develop after this because I know the story line haha :P. Did I surprise you all with our favorite Arbiter?**

**Arbiter: Probably not, human. Everyone loves me… and putting me as one of the characters in the story description kind of gave away the fact that I would be making an appearance.**

**Me: True, but be that as it may… shut up.**

**Anyway… I hope you all will stick with me on this! By the way, I need names and characters. Please? **

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

**SS out.**

**P.S. I love you guys :D**

**P.P.S. I'm always up for a good match of Reach : )!**

**Peace.**


	7. Joining the Enemy

**Author note**

**This took longer than I expected but than again his chapter is pretty long and full of stuff. I have also been working on the next few chapters as well, though they might not be as long as this one. I find it easier to do a bunch of shorter chapters to get them out quicker than a longer one (what is your preference?). **

**I want to thank everyone who reads this story and give a super huge thank you to RC927 who not only motivated me for this chapter, but brought Rav'k to life in the first fan art I've ever received for a fic, and for giving me permission to use Naros Nadumee as a character (hope I write him as a owning' bad ass).**

**And holy skiz I forgot the disclaimer last time! Even though it should be a given that I don't own shit….**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or its characters or things would have ended soooo much differently on Reach… Oh and Naros rightfully belongs to RC927 and her awesomeness. I only own my OCs**

**Enjoy : )!**

* * *

Keira stood behind Rav'k and Thel as High Charity came into view. The Covenant holy city was incredible and brilliant in it's glory.

"Ashortee take Kiera to the hanger bay and wait for me there, this meeting should be quick and I want to be before the Prophets as soon as we're able."

"Understood, sir." Rav'k bowed before exiting the room, beckoning the tame Demon to follow.

"Open up a communications channel with the city, I want the Prophets to know what we have onboard before we dock. Tell them Shipmaster Thel Vadamee wishes to speak with the Prophets directly and immediately, it is a very important matter." He ordered one of the Minors working at the multiple ship consoles.

"Yes, honored one." He nodded before tapping away at the glowing orange console in front of him. A few moments went by before a holographic image of the Prophets faded onto the pedestal in front of the golden Shipmaster's seat.

"Ah, Thel Vadamee. One of our most prized Shipmasters." As the Prophet of Truth addressed him, Thel stood and gave the Prophets a Sangheili salute. "We were told that you wished to speak to us about a matter of great importance." Truth continued, lacing his spindly fingers underneath his chin.

"Indeed, noble Prophets. One of my Generals recently captured a Demon." He let the words sink in. Truth's face remained neutral, but he could see the slight surprise in the eyes of Regret and Mercy. "We tried to interrogate it for information on the human army, but she refused to break." Truth raised the equivalent of a brow at the use of gender for a Demon, but said nothing, waiting for the end of the report. "During one of these sessions, a Brute got out of hand and knocked out the Demon, when she awoke, she held no memory of her affiliation with the humans and swore loyalty to myself and my General. She believes that her people have betrayed her, and desires revenge, I saw the fire in her eye when we spoke of her people. Instead of striking her down I chose to let you make the decision, noble hierarchs . She wishes to fight for the Covenant and the Journey. Will you have her?" He asked, bowing. He prayed to the gods that this would work out and not end in his exile, or worse. If it came to that, he would make sure to take Rav'k down with him…

Truth remained silent, a thoughtful expression on his face. Regret and Mercy on the other hand were outraged.

"This is heresy! Are you meaning to tell us that we should accept a Demon into our Covenant? That we should bring it with us on the Great Journey?" Regret raged, slamming his fist against the arm of his seat.

"Humans are not worthy of the Journey! They do not follow the path, and their Demons are the worst of their miserable species!" Mercy added with anger of his own. Truth raised a three fingered hand to silence the two other Prophets.

"You say this Demon will serve us. Are you sure?" He asked as he stared the Elite down. Nothing in Thel's eyes led Truth to believe that he was lying, or planning to betray the Covenant. There was no heresy in his amber eyes or in his deep voice. He spoke the truth, and only had the Covenant's success in mind. Truth couldn't help but think about how much more powerful the Covenant would be if they used humanity's great weapon against them.

"Truth, you can not possibly be considering this!" Mercy exclaimed in utter disbelief at the thoughtful look on the High Prophet's face.

"This idea is heresy!" Regret fumed.

"Silence." Truth commanded, effectively shutting up the other Prophets.

"Noble Prophets, if I did not think that the Demon could be trusted she would be dead. If I did not think that she was sincere when she said she wished to join us, she would be dead." Thel said, bowing again.

"Perhaps utilizing this Demon to our advantage is the way. Imagine the humans having to fight their own weapon, being crushed by their own indestructible Demon." Truth mused, his two companions finally seemed to see why having a Demon of the Covenant would be a wise choice. He turned to Regret and Mercy on either side of him. "This Demon may will prove useful, a great asset to our Covenant and our Journey." The other Prophets simply nodded, to swept up in their on thoughts of a Demon killing Demons to speak. "It is settled then. Shipmaster, bring the Demon before us and the Covenant to be initiated into the ranks. We will appraise and deem as we see fit."

"Yes, hierarchs." Thel gave a salute before the transmission ended. He turned to his bridge crew. "Dock at the city, and send word to Zyran and Naros to meet me and General Ashortee in the hanger." He said before heading to the appointed rendezvous point.

XXX

Keira stood with the large golden Elite in a comfortable silence. The large alien seemed to have something important on his mind, and was standing with his hands behind his back, staring out the hanger bay's shield door. She wanted to start a conversation with the fascinating warrior that had saved her life, but dared not break the silence for fear of crossing a possible species boundary. Before she could make up her mind on what to do, two other Elites entered the room. They gave Rav'k a Sangheili salute before one of them spoke up.

"The Shipmaster wishes for us to accompany you to the city, he doesn't trust the Brutes near the… her." The red Zealot said as he glanced at Keira skeptically. The orange Elite Major standing next to him just nodded and sent a curious look Keira's way. He had never seen a Demon in the flesh, only heard stories of their ruthless nature and their refusal to die. Before anything else could be said, Thel entered the hanger and the three other Elites snapped to attention.

"The Prophets are going to assess Keira to see if she is worthy to join the Journey, you three are coming with me to assure that she gets there safely. Protect her with your lives if necessary, having her join us will be invaluable to the Covenant." Thel noticed Keira fidget in her place near Rav'k, he didn't know much about human behavior but it didn't take an expert to know she was nervous. "Don't worry," He said to her and her fidgeting stopped. "the Prophet of Truth was very intrigued by the idea of having you join us." She nodded, taking that as a good sign_. _

_This 'Prophet of Truth' must be the leader of the Covenant._ She mused. _My Covenant_. She thought as she imagined more of the aliens she had met so far, fighting beside her against a people that had betrayed her. _My new teammates_. She looked at Thel, Rav'k, and the two yet to be named Sangheili across from her. _Well they will be if the Prophets except me…_

"Keira." Rav'k called to her. He was at the shield door waiting for her, the others were already on the other side in High Charity. She quickly followed after him, coming up beside him. He nudged her over slightly until she was directly behind Thel and took up the rear, the two yet to be named Elites flanking her sides.

The young Spartan didn't know what to expect of the holy city, but when she was awed by its architectural beauty, and she didn't mind the excessive amounts of purple in its many shades. The group passed many species she recognized vaguely from a past forgotten, though she could name none of them. From small triangle shaped creatures to large and bulky creatures that her mind told her were apelike. It was a surprisingly straight path to the room on the Council and upon arrival Keira could feel and see the importance of the room. Thel led her forward as her three other escorts backed away and stood near the entrance of the large round room. Soon even Thel stepped aside and gave a salute. The Spartan looked up to see strange looking beings on floating thrones. _The Prophets… _She placed a fist to her chest as she had seen Thel do, conveying her respect to the Prophets.

"So this is the Demon." Truth said as he looked her over. Keira did not flinch at the word 'Demon', Rav'k had explained its meaning and she excepted her title. She stood with her hands behind her back in a way she had seen Rav'k do when standing before Thel, she assumed it was military. "So do you have a name, Demon?"

"Yes, great Prophets. The humans called me Keira, but you are free to designate me as you wish." She replied. The Prophet of Truth smiled. _This Demon will prove valuable indeed. _Regret and Mercy remained silent as they watched the Demon with complete surprise.

"You can keep your name for now. More importantly, I hear you wish to join our Covenant, Demon Kiera."

"Yes, high Prophets. I wish to join the Covenant and its cause. My own people left me to rot even as I fought for them, fought against a cause I now see wishes to put a stop to my violent race." She dropped to her knees and bowed her head. "I wish to serve your cause. I will fight for you. I am at your command." Truth grinned.

You may rise, Keira of the Covenant." There were gasps from the members seated around the room.

"_A Demon in our midst? But the Prophet of Truth had dubbed it so, it must be the will of the gods." The thoughts and whispers echoed strangely off the walls._

"You will be serving on Shipmaster Vadamee's ship, as he is the one who brought you before us. You will live under the Covenant and its laws. Fight for the journey, Keira of the Covenant." Truth finished in a final and assertive speech. Keira, who was once again standing, bowed.

"Thank you, honorable Hierarchs. You will not regret this, I swear." Thel motioned for her to begin her exit and then threw the Prophets another salute, his Elites copying him before returning to their previous formation and exiting the room.

XXX

The meeting had gone far better than Thel had thought it would. The Demon had been accepted into the Covenant and had even been assigned to his ship, though he would make sure that Rav'k was responsible for her. _On second thought perhaps that isn't such a good idea…_ Finally the Shipmaster settled to assign Rav'k, Naros, and Zyras, as interchanged battle partners and partial guardian. The Demon did need someone to teach her of the Covenant and its ways. Keira would adjust nicely, she had already taken a liking to Thel and his three officers, asking Zyran and Naros questions constantly. _This may just end up as a great achievement. _The loyal Shipmaster couldn't help but think, but his Sangheili smile faltered however. A niggling feeling was tickling the back of his mind. Trying to feed him thoughts about the dishonor of using anyone or anything's last hope against them. But Thel Vadamee had no time for niggling feelings, and stored his in the back of his mind to focus on more urgent and important matters.

* * *

**I know I said this would be the last chap until I introduced Six, but I don't want to rush this story or have the updates take to long sooo… Next chap will contain the adventures of a Covenant Spartan! (God I'm a sick person…) The proceeding chap will introduce Six :D.**

**By the way: Naros Nadumee is pronounced: Nar-us Nay-dum-e (thank you again RC927) and Zyran is pronounced: Zer-an.**

**Anyway hope you liked it! Thank you all again for reading! **

**SS out.**

**P.S. Reviews tend to motivate me just a bit more, though now I am really into the story and things are coming a bit easier.**


	8. B312

**Author note**

**Well this is later than expected… Sorry about that by the way, writer's block was kicking my ass. But tonight and last night I kicked my own ass to get this done and it's the longest I've written so I don't feel completely terrible. At least the chapter after this is going to be easier to write. One more chapter before Noble Team yay :D!**

**Sorry for my ridiculous amount of time skips, once I get Noble into the mix the skips will be few and far between. I just use them excessively in this chapter and the next because I'm not going to waste your time reading that much of the same routine.**

**Forgive any grammatical errors you find but please let me know about them, I wrote this in a rush before I leave for a quick vacation tomorrow while I was listening to Japanese music, scores, and Iron by Woodkid, the diverse music may have addled my already questionable intelligence.**

**Again if you wish to submit a Marine, ODST, or Spartan OC, I still need names at least. I can only take so many submissions so please don't mawl my head off if I don't use your OC, just view it as an opportunity to add him/her to their own Halo adventure :P.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Halo : (**

… **Speaking of Halo… Whose excited hor the Combat Evolved Anniversary Beta coming on the 4th****? And just the fact that its coming in general? XD**

**Hope this chap doesn't disappoint to much… **

**Enjoy : ).**

* * *

"On the blood of our fathers."

The Elite mantra once again began in her head.

"On the blood of our sons."

Her sword pierced through the torso of an unfortunate Marine who screamed in agony.

"We are sworn to uphold the Covenant."

She through the corpse off the energy blade and turned to finish off the rest of the human squad, only to see them retreating like hell's demons were after them, and in a way they were.

**XXX**

The inside of the _Retribution's Thunder _was a welcome sight to Keira as she stepped out of the Phantom with the rest of her ground team. She had to admit that glassing was beautiful in a way, but the smell of burning earth and flesh wasn't exactly her favorite thing. The Covenant trained Spartan preferred to be on the ship to view when the glassing began instead of on the ground picking of stragglers, because enemy or not she didn't really agree with killing innocent civilians. She would never say that aloud though, she was no heretic.

"Kiera, you did well. At this rate we will have humanity begging for mercy soon." Rav'k commented, coming up beside her.

"Thank you, General." She replied with a bow before heading for the exit of the cargo bay. She was intercepted by Zyran.

"How did you feel about the mission?" Her orange clad battle-brother inquired.

"The same I feel about the others." She replied casually. His mandibles flickered in an odd way, a gesture she came to interpret as thoughtfulness from the Elites. "Why do you always ask that question anyway?" The Spartan was extremely proud of her mastery of interpretation and her understanding of the Sangheili language, though it was nice that the few Elite's that knew English used it when speaking to her.

"Its just… I don't understand why we kill the civilians, it seems… wrong."

"That's heretic talk, Zyran." She warned. The last thing she wanted was for her friend to be branded by that deadly title. The Officer was the only Elite who treated her like an equal instead of a Minor, Thel was always busy, Naros wasn't exactly chatty, and Rav'k was… well Rav'k.

"I know, but still… I can't help thinking about it." Keira just nodded. She didn't really understand Zyran, but he was her friend an she would do what ever she could to protect him.

"Just be careful who you say that to, Zyran. I don't want you getting into trouble for something like that." She finished before entering her quarters and leaving Zyran to his own thoughts. The Officer had good intentions, but at this rate he would never live up to the expectations of his highly esteemed father. Keira knew how much his fathers approval meant to the young Elite, and she was sad to think of her partner never achieving that goal, but there was nothing she could do. Keira sighed as she began the tedious task of her armor. The Prophets had had custom armor built for her so she would be near indestructible in battle, the weapon they needed, the protective layer looking like an awkward purple mix of Ranger and Minor armor. It was odd making Elite armor fit a human, but despite its odd appearance, it worked well enough. She had been trained by the Elites in the mastery of Covenant weapons and Elite fighting style, and despite her rank as Minor, she was given a sword due to her incredibly fast mastery of the deadly blade and other weapons. The young Spartan had been with them for three years, becoming one of the best soldiers the Covenant had, the Demons were truly ultimate weapons, and the Covenant had an excellent one of their own.

Keira let out a tired sigh as she flopped on to her odd Covenant equivalent of a bed, closing her eyes as she tried to relax. The Covenant would be moving on to the next human planet, and she would be sent with the scouting team as usual. She had to rest up for the next battle, she had to be ready for anything.

**XXX**

The lone Spartan moved through the halls of the UNSC base quickly, orange helmet tucked under her left arm. The look on her scarred face clearing the path of Marines and ODST. Arriving at her destination, the Spartan paused and knocked on the door before her loudly.

"Spartan B-312 reporting for duty, sir!" She called out. There was a beep and the key panel turning green as the door slid open, the armor clad Spartan entered and stood at immediate attention.

"You're just in time, Spartan." The Colonel replied to his personal assassin before taking a long drag at his cigarette.

"Sir." She nodded, waiting for her commanding officer to continue.

"I've been ordered by higher command to dispatch you to Dr. Halsey's location, apparently she has an important mission has decided to use you to carry it out. The damn ONI operatives wouldn't give me any details, but you are depart at 0600 hours." He paused, tapping the burnt end of his cigarette into the ashtray on his desk, appraising the Spartan he had had control over for most of her UNSC service. He put out his cigarette in irritation, that bitch Doctor Halsey just had to use his Spartan for whatever mission she had up her sleeve, he thought she hated the Spartan IIIs. " Well," He continued. "I hate to see my personal assassin go, but orders are orders. Happy hunting, Spartan." B-312 gave a final salute before leaving the room, heading to docks for dispatch. She had never cared for the Colonel, having been his assassin for years, sure she didn't voice her distaste for the man, she was the perfect Spartan. She followed every command to the letter and then some, flew through training, was cold hearted and ruthless, and had been given the title Hyper-lethal vector and as far as she knew, there was only one other Spartan with that . Whatever mission the well known Doctor Halsey had in store for her, she would be ready. She was a Spartan after all.

**XXX**

The halls of this base were different, Marines, ODSTs, and Spartans, were replaced with researchers, techies, and scientists, roaming in an orderly fashion, all seeming driven to get to a specific place at a specific time. Quite frankly, the Spartan didn't like it one bit as she was led by some assistant to Halsey's private conference room. The woman punched in a code and the door slid open, revealing who the Spartan believed to be Halsey and a man who appeared to be a Colonel in the middle of a discussion.

"Spartan B-312 is ready for you, ma'am." The assistant said before skirting around the armored super soldier and leaving the room. Halsey looked up from the datapad that rested on the table to examine.

"Ah, there you are, Spartan. We've been expecting you." She said with a hint of distaste, said Spartan glared through her blue visor.

"Sorry to make you wait, ma'am." _Who does this woman think she is? _She thought angrily as the doctor beckoned her over to stand near the table.

"No matter." The old woman said quickly. "Colonel O'Donnell and I have an important mission for you and your skills. Go ahead, Colonel." She finished with a prompting gesture. The older man cleared his throat before beginning.

"At 0500 yesterday we received the last squadron to survive the Covenant's most recent glassing. The squad's leader, Sergeant Lopez, told us that they were attacked by a group of Elites with an odd member. They described this strange enemy as a Spartan in Elite armor." The orange clad Spartan's eyes widened. "We understand that the idea of a Spartan defecting from the UNSC is impossible to comprehend, so Doctor Halsey and I have come up with a list of theories as to why the Covenant would have a Spartan fighting for them. From what the squad of Marines say, we have reason to believe that this 'Covenant Spartan' is always on the frontlines. We have already detected a Covenant encampment on this planet, we are assuming that this rouge Spartan is in that camp. Your mission is to find that Spartan, and bring them here for questioning." Dr. Halsey picked up the datapad and moved over to the still Spartan.

"This is a list of Spartans that have gone MIA, our rouge may be one of them. I suggest you read through it." The creator of the Spartan project said crisply, handing the information over to the waiting orange gloves.

"The doctor is also supplying an EMP gun so that you can capture the Spartan with out harming them." He said, holding out what looked like a heavily vamped up taser. B-312 nodded, taking the EMP gun and attaching it to her hip above her pistol, also taking the datapad and skimming through the not surprisingly short list of names. There weren't many truly MIA Spartans, most of them were killed in action, but God forbid that information getting out…

"So, are you ready, Spartan." B-312 nodded to the doctor who she was already starting to dislike.

"Just tell me when I leave." The supper soldier said, handing the datapad back to the near white haired woman.

"ASAP, you'll be working alone on this mission. A Falcon will drop you off as close to the Covenant encampment as we can get. Once there, you'll infiltrate and retrive the target, take out the entire camp if you have to then radio for pick up. We have no idea how many Covenant troops will be there, so be on your guard."

"Understood." She said with a nod before spinning on her heel and walking towards the door.

"Good luck out there Spartan."

"Thank you sir." She said with a nod before walking out the door and heading for the base's airfield.

**XXX**

The forest was quiet, too quiet in B-312's opinion. According to her HUD, the Covenant encampment was just over the next hill. The Spartan pulled the Sniper Rifle off of her back and crawled up the rest of the way, placing the barrel of the deadly precision weapon just over the top as she rested her head and shoulders on the grassy ground. She zoomed in on the scope and was surprised to see quite a small encampment, maybe enough room for around twenty Covenant soldiers max, probably a scouting party.

"My lucky day." The Spartan said to herself before moving her scope to the center of the encampment. She scanned the group, seven Grunts, four Jackals, two Elite Minors, and… The hyper-lethal soldier couldn't help but be surprised_. Looks like the rumors are right, that is a Spartan in elite armor. _She thought as she observed the obviously human body type of the thirteenth inhabitant of the Covenant camp. _Take out the Elites first, then the Jackals, by then the Grunts should be running for the hills and I should be able to focus on the Spartan, if not, I'll just take them out before I tackle the big gun_. The Spartan planned. Feeling confident with her strategy, she took aim at the Elite closest to her target, and fired.

The target Spartan's head snapped to the side at the sound of the gun shot, just in time to see their Elite companion fall. B-312 wasted no time, and in the resulting confusion caused by her first shot she fired again, taking out the second Elite. Realizing that they were under attack the Jackals activated their shields and looked frantically about for the assailant, the Grunts were already running in circles squealing in that odd yippy language of theirs. The lone wolf's target on the other hand had tracked the second shot and was looking her way, already pulling out an Energy Sword.

"Damn it, you have got to be kidding me!" The orange super soldier growled before pulling the pin out of a frag grenade and expertly throwing it at the feet of the group of Jackals. One of the birdlike aliens had time to look down before the explosive detonated, sending the four Covenant snipers flying. The purple clad Spartan had begun charging toward her, seemingly enraged by the death of it's comrades. _What is this Spartan, an Elite? _Sighing in agitation, B-312 pulled out the EMP gun and readied it. If this Covenant Spartan acted like an Elite, then it would most likely fight like one, and B-312 was an expert at fighting Elites close range. The target Spartan let out an angry feminine yell, swinging their sword towards B-312's shoulder, intending to cleave the Spartan in two. The lone wolf assassin anticipated, ducking and rolling away from the blow before jumping up quickly and ramming the head of the EMP into the neck of the target's armor before pulling the trigger and sending a powerful jolt through her enemy's armor and body. The Elite armored Spartan twitched from the burst before falling over, sword deactivating and landing near it's owner.

"Well that was disappointingly easy." The orange Spartan commented as she observed her fallen opponent. "Wait, its never this easy…" If this was just a scouting party then they must have some form of communication with the main group, which meant. "Shit!" B-312 cursed as she realized that the very Spartan lying at her feet may have contacted their superiors. The hyper-lethal vector activated her comm. "This is Spartan B-312 requesting immediate Falcon pickup. My mission is complete, requesting evac ASAP." The comm. Link crackled for a few seconds before a response came in.

"I read you loud and clear, Spartan. "

"Sending coordinates."

"Coordinates received, pick up en route."

"The quicker the better, in a few minutes the Covenant will be swarming this location."

"Rodger that." The Falcon jockey replied before cutting the communication abruptly. The Spartan sighed, moving over to her captive.

"That pilot better be quick. No way in hell am I gonna fight an army of Covenant just to recover your sorry ass. You may not know this, but I really don't like the backstabbing traitor type." She said with a glare directed at the incapacitated Spartan on the ground to her left.

It only took a few minutes before B-312 could see the large yellow dot on her HUD and hear the duel blades of the Falcon as it came into view. The Falcon landed on the hill a few feet away.

"Ready when you are, Spartan." The pilot called out. She only nodded in response, not seeing the point of giving a verbal response before hauling the deadweight rouge onto her back and depositing them roughly onto the Falcons floor before moving them to the middle back seat and strapping them in. She was about to get in her self when she thought of something. Moving around to the front of the air vehicle and knocked on one of the small windows of the cockpit. The pilot gave her a confused look.

"Sorry, but I'm flying." The Marine looked like he was about to protest but thought better of it, instead going with the smarter and safer route of just doing what the super soldier said. Not only was she a higher rank, but he knew that it was best not to get on a Spartan's bad side. The man pushed open the lid and hopped out of the cockpit, almost immediately being replaced by the female Spartan.

"Well don't just stand there, get in! We're in a rush if you hadn't noticed." She snapped. The Marine jumped before rushing to get into the left turret seat, shouting out an affirmed "ready" before the Falcon's blades started spinning and the three were lifted into the air.

XXX

Keira felt as though she were on a Corvette without it's stabilizer activated, she was rocking back and fourth violently. What was going on? Her head felt fuzzy, and her body tingled. She made to move her arm, but found she was restricted. Her body was responding well enough, but her armor was shot. That's when she remembered the attack. They were attacked by a Demon! Her eyes snapped open to see the strange interior of a human vehicle, a Marine was on the turret to her right, firing towards what she assumed was the back of the vehicle. Where was the Demon? The vehicle banked hard to the right, and Keira now understood why she felt rocking, they were in the air.

"Damn! How many Banshees are after us?" A yell came from what seemed to be everywhere.

"Two!"

"Well than shoot them down, Marine! I can't do this all day!" An angry feminine yell came again from the air in the vehicle which Keira had now clarified was what the UNSC called Falcons.

"I'm trying, Spartan!" The Marine yelled back in a near panic. "They keep evading to the right, I can't reach them there!"

"Well then turret hop!"

"Are you insane?" He retorted, Spartan or no Spartan there was no way he was about to seat hop, especially not with the way she evaded so abruptly, he would fall out of the Falcon if he tried something so risky. So the Demon was flying this thing, Keira chose now to speak up, its not like she could move to escape and she needed answers.

"Why did you capture me?" She shouted, hoping the Demon could hear her.

"Shit she's awake." The Marine panicked, looking at her with fear stricken eyes.

"Oh calm down! So you're awake are you? Good, I'm bringing you back to the UNSC for questioning. You've got a lot of explaining to do traitor."

"Traitor? Your UNSC betrayed me, not the other way around, Demon."

"Listen to me, if you think the UNSC or ONI would willingly get rid of a Spartan you've got more than a few screws loose, we're sacrificial pawns, not used toys. Now-" She was cut short as an explosion rocked the falcon, setting it off center momentarily before the Spartan at the helm was able to straighten it.

"Damn. Hey, pilot."

"Yeah?" He asked hesitantly.

"I'm going to try and get behind them, but it'll be rough. Brace yourself ad then blow them to kingdom come." Before the poor Marine could even ask, the Falcon was already elevating and leaning back. Without warning the safety lights flashed red.

"Oh no…" The Marine muttered before the Falcon flipped nose straight up and began rapidly dropping altitude as it spun backwards.

"We are going to die!" Keira screamed at the Demon over the Marine's own terrified prayers to God. The Spartan laughed almost gleefully.

"Ha, haven't you heard? Spartans never die!" She yelled as she righted the Pelican behind the Banshees, giving the now slightly more calm Marine the opportunity to shoot them down. The moment the words were out of her mouth Keira's eyes widened, she knew that phrase. Something clicked, and she seemed to back in time, a silhouette of someone that her gut said was familiar.

"_Spartans never die." _The memory echoed.

"They're just missing in action." She finished in a whisper.

* * *

**For those of you who are wondering why I didn't mention Six's name for this entire chapter, it's because of certain things that I will explain next chapter and if I don't I'll but them in the AN. Feel free to ask any questions if something doesn't make sense, I'll answer them as soon as I can : ). **

**Oh yeeeeaaaah! If your wondering who in the spawn of hell our crazy Six flipped a falcon upside-down in the air, it is possible (but dangerous) to do it with a helicopter, so why not a Falcon? See, logic. Also if you are wondering "How did Keira go down so fast?" Just play **_**The Package **_**on any difficulty. That Elite General with the sword (you know which one I'm talking about) I bet you that if you had evade he wouldn't be able to touch you, and Six has like twice the experience and is a hyper-lethal Spartan sooo…..**

**A big hug and a thank you to RC927 who did the first piece of fanart for this fic or any of my fics actually. Check out her DA, she's awesome. You rock RC :D!**

**Hope you all liked it.**

**Stay tuned next time for the next chapter :P! I'll try to make it come out soon, but no promises this time.**

**SS out.**

**P.S. I made 3 references in this chap, if you can name them I'll give you a cookie and maybe a present if you get all three ;D!**


	9. The Babysitter

**Author note**

**Don't worry everyone, I'm not dead!**

**Sorry this has taken so long to update, I've been super busy lately and when I wasn't busy I was distracted by things and CE Anniversary…. Mostly Anniversary though… I know I promised that this would be the last chap before our bros Noble Team showed up, but I just wanted to get this out quicker. **

**Happy late Thanksgiving to you all :D!**

**I do not own Halo : (**

**Enjoy : )**

* * *

Keira's mind was slowly coming back to consciousness, the incident in the Falcon had caused her to blackout. Muddled voices drifted to her ears, she could barely understand what they were saying. She clenched her eyes and tried to dim the sudden ache in her head. Pictures were swimming before her eyes, things she must have seen but didn't remember. She opened her eyes slowly, her vision blurring the room and people around her, but at least now she could understand what they were saying.

"You can't just probe her mind and leave her in cell for information extraction." An angry yet familiar feminine voice state as a rusty orange blur passed before her line of vision before stopping at the edge of her peripheral.

"Than what would you have us do, Spartan? She is a Spartan traitor to the UNSC, punishment for that should be much worse."

"A willing traitor? You know better than most how loyal Spartans are to the UNSC, Doctor. For all we know this could've been a Covenant experiment. We should just wait for her to wake up and see if we can extract information without making her think that the Covenant actually were the right side." The armored Spartan was never one to speak out against superiors, but what the Doctor was suggesting wasn't right. It didn't help that she already detested the old hag. Halsey stopped before retorting, as much as she hated to admit it, the Spartan had a better solution to the matter at hand. She hated being proven wrong by subordinates, let alone by a Spartan III. But this was a delicate matter, and the doctor had no choice but to go with the best option.

"Very well, Spartan. We'll use your methods." She turned her face to the only man in the room. Colonel, are you ready to begin the interrogation?" O'Donnell nodded.

"Alright, Spartan, wake her up." The orange clad super human moved to obey, and was about to shake the obviously younger Spartan into consciousness when her light brown eyes snapped open.

"Don't touch me!" The restrained Spartan growled, causing the armored figure to stop. Keira's head was pounding, she was confused, frightened, and was about to be interrogated. She could no longer separate the lies and truth from her memories, all she wanted to do was curl up and let this mind storm pass, but the people in the room with her had different plans.

"Keira Z-527, member of Nova Team, went MIA three years ago during the Covenant attack on Luyten. Your body was never recovered, and now we know why." The Colonel read from the datapad he held in his hand. _Nova Team… Luyten… _Blurry visions passed before Keira's eyes, vaguely familiar faces smiling at each other, and then a war zone with the sounds of battle echoing in her head.

"We know the truth about who you are, Spartan. What we don't know is why you decided to betray your people. Care to explain?" Halsey said coolly.

"I didn't betray anyone! Rav'k, he told me that…" Keira froze.

_If you think the UNSC or ONI would willingly get rid of a Spartan you've got more than a few screws loose. A willing traitor? You know better than most how loyal Spartans are to the UNSC. A Demon of the Covenant. _The memories went through her head.

Could it be that the kindness the Elite's and Covenant had given her had been a lie, that all that she had been fighting for these past three years were nothing? She looked away from the doctor and Colonel's intent eyes. Had her mind been so weak that it was so easily bent by the Covenant to betray her own people? She thought about it long and hard. The way these humans were talking about it, it would mean that she had been tricked by the Covenant. But Zyran and Thel had been kind to her, they treated her equally. Zyran was her friend, and Thel had been a kind commanding officer, he almost treated her with… that was it then, the Shipmaster had almost seemed to treat her with pity…

In that moment, Keira lost the fight within her, the beautifully woven lie that had been her life was shattered, the truth was out now, and there was no escaping it. Keira felt like crying or screaming, something to let her anger and frustration out, but she held it in, not willing to show her weakness. Instead she chose to use her voice calmly.

"I didn't know…" The young Spartan began in a defeated tone. "They were using me this whole time and I didn't know." She finished quietly, looking away from the doctor and Colonel.

"How was it that the Covenant were able to convince you that we were the enemy?" Halsey questioned without the ice that had previously been in her voice. Keira turned her head toward the older woman, strands of her platinum blonde hair falling in front of her eyes.

"There's a huge patch missing from my memory, all I remember is waking up on a Covenant ship and being told that I had been left to die by the UNSC. I don't know what they did to wipe my memory, and I don't know how I was deceived like that. I'm sorry, but that's all I know about my past."

"I see… I'm sorry to hear that, Keira. We'll do our best to try and get your memory back, but first, there's something very important I need your help with. I need you to tell us everything you know about the Covenant. If we are going win this war, we need any information you have." Halsey said with urgency, moving to undo the braces that kept Keira strapped to the interrogation table in the corner of the room. The Spartan dropped to the floor and stretched before nodding to the doctor.

"I'll tell you everything you need to know." The young super soldier said with determination, the Covenant would pay for what they did, she wouldn't be tricked like that again. Cathrine smiled, this had gone much smoother than she thought it would.

"Thank you." The old doctor said as she sat down. "Now tell us your story with the Covenant."

XXX

After hours of talking, the young Spartan had given all the information she could on the Covenant. She was more than willing to share the information about those that had betrayed her, and she was almost friendly toward the doctor and Colonel.

"Thank you for telling us all of that, Spartan." Halsey said to the seemingly exhausted young Spartan. The information Keira had provided them with was extremely valuable, Covenant ship names, organization, leaders, and so on. The Spartan even understood the Elite language enough to translate most of it. Now all the UNSC had to do was use this information to their advantage, and Keira was the key.

Spartan B-312 had been patiently standing off to the side during the entire exchange, she was about to ask for her leave when the quiet whispering of the Colonel and doctor piqued her interest. She didn't hear many of the words clearly, but they were obviously having a quick private discussion, she assumed it was about the Covenant kid who was currently staring at her with mixed emotions. B-312 turned her head in Keira's direction, causing the poor girl to look away quickly as if she were afraid the orange clad Spartan could kill her with eye contact.

"Spartan," B-312 immediately turned towards the two UNSC personnel and gave a salute. "we have come to a decision." The Colonel said. The hyper-lethal soldier just waited for either of them to continue.

"Keira here has information that is vital in this war, once we suit her up and get her ready for action again she will be sent into the field. Of course she will need a partner to watch her back, and who better to accompany her than one of our most skilled Spartans?" Halsey finished. Realization struck the Spartan like a Revenant, and she immediately began her defense.

"With all do respect, I work better alone. I'm not a babysitter." She said the last part in an almost icy tone.

"We are not asking you, Spartan." Halsey returned forcefully. "Keira needs a highly trained Spartan to retrain her within a week and an even more skilled Spartan to accompany her on missions. Who better than you? You are now her partner whether you like it or not." She moved around the armored Spartan towards the door, O'Donnell right behind her. "Now the Colonel and I have important business to attend to. Show Keira around the base while we notify the Techs that we will be in need of a suit of armor for our new Spartan. We will call you into the armory when it is time to have measurements taken for the armor." The doctor said as she proceeded out of the room, leaving an irritated Lieutenant and a nervous Keira behind.

The helmet covered head of Keira's new partner was still facing the door, and if Keira had to guess, the eyes behind the visor were glaring daggers at where Doctor Halsey and Colonel O'Donnell had left. Keira was about to say something to break the uncomfortable silence when she heard a sigh from her companion. And orange helmet turned in her direction.

"Come on, kid. I'll show you around the base." The Spartan said in defeat. Keira smiled slightly and nodded, following the older Spartan out of the room.

XXX

The two Spartans were walking down the grey halls of the base in an awkward silence, the only thing said was the older Spartan's occasional introduction of a new section of the base. Keira sighed

"So what's your name?" The blonde Spartan finally spoke up, breaking the silence. Why not make small talk with her new partner?

"Does it matter?" The questioned soldier shot back.

"Well yeah. I can't just call you Spartan all the time." Keira said with an amused smile.

"Why not?"

"Because it doesn't seem right. We are partners after all."

"B-312." Said Spartan replied curtly.

"That's not a name, that's a number."

"Is there a difference?"

"Of course there is! Everyone deserves a name."

"I don't see the point." B-312 grumbled.

"Oh come on. I'm just asking for your name, nothing else. Is it really so hard to tell it to me?" Keira pleaded, her older companion just let out a long sigh.

"Fine! Solara, my name is Solara." The newly named Spartan ground out in irritation. Keira grinned broadly.

"Glad to be working with you Solara." Keira said with a smirk.

"Yeah whatever, kid." Solara could tell that this was going to be a looong partnership.

* * *

**Meh I know the first part seems rough and stupid and that's cause it is. It's not like I have any personal experiences like Keira's to go off of -_-. And yes before you ask Keira's Spartan training (shity as it was) was forgotten like everything else so she wont and isn't as badass as most Spartans.**

**Next chapter will come out as soon as I have time, I have the majority of the rest of this story planned out a lot better than the fillers of first chapters :P.**

**Thanks again to RC927 for motivating me on this :D.**

**Oh I may bump the rating up sometime in the future for blood gore and language.**

**Yes I know I make Halsey a bitch a lot in my fics, and that's because she is.**

**Chapters will be longer in the future...**

**Peace out B).**


	10. Partners

**Author note:**

**I have been gone sooo long, I apologize and have poor excuses. Writer's block is a biiiiiiiiiiitch! Though I have been writing for the last half of this story -_-. Anywaaay, if no one reads this anymore I understand completely, I will get the next couple of chapters up as soon as I can, summer is on so I won't have tooo much to hinder my writing this. I'm planning to completely rewrite the first chapters of this, but that can wait until the stories finished unless backed by popular demand. Hope this lives up to all your expectations.**

**Did I mention that I'm gonna bump this to M after this chap for blood, language, and all that shit? Well I am, just for safety measures.**

**And there shall be a surprise character cameo! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Halo.**

**Enjoy : )**

* * *

The last few months had been the most frustrating amount of time that Spartan B-312 had ever experienced. Retraining Keira had been near impossible, Solara was a soldier, not a teacher, and Keira was near clueless to everything. The Young Spartan still couldn't properly aim any UNSC long-range weapon and her driving was absolutely hopeless. It didn't help that the kid didn't know when to shut up and wouldn't stop asking questions. Anything the young Spartan could ask, she did, and it drove her new partner crazy.

This mission was a crucial one, they were being sent as back up for a Spartan squad that was having trouble with a group of Insurrectionists. An Innie takeout was usually an easy job, but she had never been sent as backup for a Spartan unit, and she had never had a partner. She had no idea how this would turn out and she hated it. She looked over her shoulder at the cause of her problems and sighed, Keira had made it painfully obvious that she felt extremely uncomfortable about killing humans, Solara supposed it was the guilt, her actions while under the Covenant's influence were starting to eat away at her. Solara found herself questioning how big of a budget cut ONI made when it came to Zeta company, Keira was more emotional than most unaugmented soldiers. If all of Zeta was like Keira, if they had all turned out so human, it was no wonder that the production of Spartan III's had stopped. She heaved a frustrated sigh, she'd been doing that often lately. She couldn't deal with a wannabe pacifist right now, she needed Keira to at least defend herself, watching out for her the whole time would just make things more complicated than they already were.

The sun was just starting to peak through the trees as the two Spartans got closer to their destination. This was Keira's first real mission, Solara just hoped her subordinate wouldn't do anything stupid like she had on her own first important mission. She blocked the memory before it could take up needed space in her head, her scars were already a constant reminder. They were getting close now, it was almost time.

Solara stopped just before the edge of the trees, lifting her fist to signal Keira to stop. The older Spartan pulled the Sniper Rifle off her back and aimed at the elaborate encampment bellow, it was obvious that the Innies had been here for a while. Most of the rebels were at the front firing at the Spartan unit. She zoomed in on one of the few guards that remained at their post. Once the shot was fired it would alert the Insurrectionists to another attack and relieve some of the pressure off the other Spartans, just what they needed. Solara aimed and fired, her bullet finding the unfortunate Innie's skull. She took out the other two guards before they had time to register what was going on. She then signaled Keira forward, as she started moving down the hill, switching the Sniper for her DMR.

Keira followed her partner down the ridge and into the compound, Assault Rifle resting loosely in her hands. The second Solara's feet fit flat ground her DMR was up and ready. Keira mimicked her movement, eyeing her surroundings and HUD closely. Solara was an orange blur within seconds, shots being fired at enemies Keira hadn't even realized were there. The older Spartan was unbelievable, they were already halfway through the camp and the black clad Spartan hadn't even fired a shot. Guess that's why the call her hyper-lethal… Keira thought, staring at her partner in awe as she tore through the camp without missing a beat. The young Spartan almost ran into her when Solara suddenly stopped. Solara moved one of her hands behind her back. Keira stared at her in confusion before half a score of Innies had rounded the two buildings ahead of them, Assault Rifles aimed and ready. Keira watched as the hand Solara had placed behind her back reached for a frag, Keira's eyes widened. Again Solara was a blur, priming and throwing the grenade as she leapt to the left to avoid the spray of bullets in response to her movement. Keira took the hint and rolled to the side just as Solara's feet hit the ground and another grenade went flying towards the enemy group.

The two consecutive explosions were mixed with the screams of the unfortunate Insurrectionists caught in their wake. Solara moved mover the dismembered corpses without slowing, and waited impatiently as Keira carefully made her way over. The gunfire had started to die done, the Spartans had been given the opportunity they needed and the Innies were now doubt having their collective asses handed to them by the super soldiers. Solara returned her DMR to the magnetic plate on her back before heading through the camp in search of whichever tent-shed hybrid held the Innie's communication or planning station. The most promising was the most solid structure in the compound, right smack dab in the center, it was the most solid building they'd seen and the only one with an actual door. Solara kicked the door down without second thought and entered.

A single shot rang out, as the Insurrectionist fired near pointblank at Solara's head. The Spartan only let out an irritated breath as her shields flared from the impact. _Innies never learn do they? Can't kill a Spartan with just a bullet_. Her combat knife was buried in his chest before he could even think about firing again. Solara walked over and bent down in front of the unlucky bastard, reaching out for her knife when an all to familiar voice reached her ears.

"Should've know that you would be the back up for my squad. You were the best of us after all." Solara's grip on her combat knife tightened as she yanked it out of the Insurrectionist's chest cavity with more force than necessary. If there was one thing Solara truly detested, it was the owner of that voice. She turned, flicking the blood off her blade as she addressed the speaker.

"Rosenda, what an unfortunate surprise." The distaste was evident in Solara's tone as she sheathed her blade, facing the other Spartan. Rosenda's helmet was nestled in the crook of her arm, curly brown hair framing her face as she smirked at Solara.

"Good to see you too." Came the sarcastic reply. Keira could practically feel the irritation and dislike in the air.

"Cut the reunion shit, Rosenda. We were sent as backup for a team. What poor bastards got stuck with you?"

"Oh so the lone wolf finally has to play with others." Rosenda sneered as she looked over at Keira. Solara took an aggressive step toward the other Beta Spartan before her partner stepped between them.

"Solara…" Keira said in a calm yet almost pleading tone. Thankfully Solara heeded the warning and backed off, she would not start a fight with Rosenda, no matter how much she wanted to.

"I see you're obedient as always."

"Where the fuck's you're team, Rosenda? We haven't got all day." Keira flinched, she had never heard Solara use such a harsh tone, it was intimidating.

"They're on their way to this position, and I wouldn't so much call them my team. I'm more of a temporary addition." It was obvious that Solara couldn't give two shits about anything involving Rosenda, so she proceeded in her normal manner of ignoring the other Spartan's statement and attempting to end the conversation.

"Well our work here is done, we'll leave the rest to your squad. Come on Keira, lets go." Solara was almost to the door when the frame was blocked by a massive figure, the Spartan III stopped as what was obviously a Spartan II entered. Since when did II's and III's work together? The II lifted her helmet off, allowing blonde hair to fall free, the ponytail stopping at the green shoulders of her armor.

"Thanks for the help, we needed it." The larger woman said, blue eyes meeting blue visor. They were a natural blue, not the near glowing blue of eyes tainted with augmentation, a rare sight. _One of the lucky ones… _Solara nodded at the II, a mission was a mission, and she always completed her missions no matter what they were. She gestured at Keira to follow her before making her way out of the small shack, leaving Rosenda and what seemed to be her commanding officer alone. Three Spartan's stood outside the building, their conversation stopped dead when Solara and Keira emerged. Keira looked at the three males curiously, though she wasn't given much time to examine them thanks to Solara's brisk unwavering pace.

Solara was just glad that they were leaving this place, the further she was from Rosenda, the better.

**XXX**

Thankfully the mess hall wasn't that crowded, she hated the stares her battle worn form received. Eyes filled with fear, apprehension, distaste, hatred, and more often than not surprise when those eyes saw the many scars that lined her face. She took another mouthful of the tasteless protein and drug packed food, made to balance the affect of a Spartan's augmentation. Solara couldn't remember ever having to eat or drink that tasted like anything, she had heard Marines and ODST's refer to ration bars as cardboard, so she decided that out of what she had eaten, 'cardboard' was the nicest flavor. Keira on the other hand was still having trouble with the food, not that Solara would understand, she knew that the stuff Spartan's were fed probably tasted like shit. It was just odd to see a Spartan struggling with Spartan food. She still wasn't much of a talker, but she put in her two cents every now and then.

"Still used to the finer things in life?" She couldn't help but smirk a bit as Keira shot her a glare, kid still wasn't used to low blows.

"Very funny." The younger Spartan grumbled, taking an unwanted bite in an attempt to make her partner eat her words.

It didn't work as well as she'd planed...

The slightest movement of the Lieutenant's shoulders and almost scoffing exhale ruined Keira's plans. Solara's form of a chuckle was rare, and though the young Spartan enjoyed seeing the older woman out of her coldhearted exterior, she didn't enjoy the fact that it was at her expense.

"So who was that Spartan back at the Innie camp?" The immediate darkening of Solara's mood was a good indication that the mysterious Spartan wasn't the best topic for a subject change, but she was curious. Anyone who could make the ever neutral Solara's temper flare was worth knowing about.

"You mean Rosenda." She practically spat the name, glaring at her water.

"You know her?" Keira continued, trying to keep the conversation going. A decent conversation with Solara was rare, and she didn't let them go easily.

"Yeah I know her, another Beta, worked with her a bit during training. We've never seen eye to eye."

"Why?"

"You and your questions. We hate each other, period. End of story." The finality in her tone was enough warning for Keira to drop the subject.

She hated when Solara shut her out like that, didn't the Spartan understand that being human didn't make her weak? Then again, who was she to judge, one who served the Covenant for three years and slaughtered their own brethren. She had been a monster once, Solara was one of a different kind. The terrible taste of her meal seemed to get even worse, but she continued to eat the bitter substance.

"I'll be back." Solara said evenly after a while, getting up from the table with her tray in hand. Keira still had no idea how she was able to eat her rations so quickly and without the slightest grimace. Solara really did seem indestructible.

The second her partner was gone she felt them, the eyes on her back. She'd felt the eyes before, whenever she was alone it seemed that they were upon her, Solara's presence the only thing that deter them. When she had asked the older Spartan about it Solara had called her naïve and muttered about 'stupid bastards' and 'liking to see them try'. She understood more than Solara thought, the UNSC personnel who eyed her so must be completely ignorant to the fact that she was a Spartan. She wasn't all that surprised, Zeta Spartans were smaller in stature and muscle than Alpha and Beta's, and could be easily be mistaken for well fit Marines or ODST's. Keira didn't understand why Solara's mere presence deterred any and all non-Spartans and lower ranking officers from communicating with them at all. Perhaps it was the vicious scars that lined the woman's face, one angry red line over her right eye and another beside it running down her jaw, what looked like it had once been a deep gash from her left ear down her neck, various smaller cuts marring her left cheek and forehead. Maybe her appearance and a mix of her antisocial behavior? She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of close footsteps and looked to her right to see three ODST's. She cursed herself mentally. Solara was right, she did need to be more aware of her surroundings.

"Hey there." The bolder and bigger of the three said with a grin as he leaned an elbow on the table casually, leaning to close for her liking. She took Solara's early advice and chose not to respond, hoping that she wouldn't have to resort to the 'alternative' option as her friend liked to call it.

"All the time she spends with that Spartan must be messing her up." One of them joked, eyes appraising. Now she was uncomfortable, shifting slightly in her seat as she tried to think of something that would get them to leave her be.

"Why don't you hang with your own guys? We're much better company." The undertone of the first ODST's voice did not go unnoticed by Keira and she shifted uncomfortably as she thought of a decent excuse to leave the table.

"A nice offer, but I have training to get to." Crisp, short, and antisocial, just how Solara taught her to deal with people who couldn't take a hint. Though she knew her voice didn't have the power it needed to, and by the looks on their faces the ODSTs knew as well.

"Come on, training can wait can't it?" The leer and smile the man sent her gave her chills and she made a quick attempt to get away from him. She saw him reaching for her, but before even she had time to react a scared pale hand caught his wrist in a vice.

"I suggest you leave her alone." Came Solara's level but steely voice. The ODSTs had surprised almost fearful expressions on their faces, the largest yanking at the Spartans grip until she let go, sending him stumbling back a bit. Keira had to hold in her sigh of relief at her partners timely entrance. Solara looked over her shoulder slightly, appraising Keira, making sure her young partner was alright, she then returned her attention to the soldiers in front of her. Her mere towering presence seemed to deter the two smaller troopers, but the larger seemed ready for a fight. Not something Solara needed right now.

"You Spartans always think you can scare us off." By the stance he took and the challenging tone in his voice Solara knew what was coming. It didn't take log for him to throw an angry punch. With ease the Spartan lifted her own hand, catching his hand in a bone crushing grip.

"I'll give you one last chance. Stand down, soldier." Her voice was low and dangerous, she was not in the mood for this. She saw the way his body tensed, knew that another punch was coming. Within a split second she had backhanded the ODST with her own light punch. Well it was light for her…

Keira heard the distinct crack of breaking bone and flinched. The man's jaw was undoubtedly in two pieces now, she just hoped his neck hadn't suffered as badly. Solara just waited for the moan of pain that was bound to come. The unintelligible sound that came out of the poor man as he turned his head, cradling his bleeding jaw gently was a good sign.

"I suggest not picking fights with Spartan's." Was all Solara said to the gaping group of solders before her. "Come on Keira, lets go." Her partner just followed her in shock. Now she knew why most soldiers avoided her, a mix of her personality, appearance, and the fact that she could literally break them in a fight. Keira couldn't help but get the impression that these fights had happened before, she just hoped that they could be avoided in the future.

**XXX**

The next few months went by without much issue, Keira was adjusting well, and had finally accepted fighting Insurrectionists and Covenant alike. On occasion when they were on missions involving the Covenant, Solara would catch her partner attempting to communicate with the Elites they encountered, as odd as it was Spartan B312 didn't question Keira about it. After every encounter the young Spartan seemed drained, and the hyper-lethal vector found herself noticing how human her subordinate was. Sometimes it was better to not ask questions. Initially it had been hard to adjust to having a partner, but admittedly Solara had grown dare she say attached to Keira, though the Spartan pined it on her mission involving Keira.

At the moment they were headed to a debriefing with Colonel O'Donnell, something he deemed highly important. If the Colonel said something was that important, than chances were it was some kind of critical mission.

Solara stepped into the briefing room and snapped a quick salute to the waiting Colonel, followed quickly be Keira.

"Excellent timing Spartans. I have news for you." The older man stated, turning fully to the Spartan's. "You're being transferred."

"Transferred?" Keira's confusion was evident in her tone.

"Yes, to my Spartan team. You two are assets we need." Both Spartan's turned their attention to the monitor on O'Donnell's right where the picture of a middle-aged man was displayed. His name patch read 'U. Holland' and by the badges Solara saw on his uniform, she new he was a Colonel. Without hesitation she gave a salute, Keira mimicking her movements.

"With all do respect, sir. I don't think I'm a team Spartan." Solara wouldn't have normally questioned orders, but teamwork wasn't exactly her forte, and she hadn't exactly willingly been placed in a two man team.

"I am fully aware of your lone wolf status, Spartan. But I need your skill set and your partners knowledge. Colonel O'Donnell has already agreed with the transfer along with my superior officers. You will work with my team now."

"And what team is that?" Sometimes Solara just wanted to slap Keira for asking too many questions and not just following orders.

"Noble Team. Welcome aboard Spartan's." Holland said before he cut the communication.

_Well this should be interesting…_

* * *

**Damn this chapter, damn it t****o the pits of the Inferno.**

**This was already taking forever and then every time I had a break through writers block decided to kick my ass. **

**I'm going to do my best in getting the other chapters up, but no time will be set. Just know that I am going to see this story through to the end, I am determined. I am not going to let it go unfinished.**

**Next chap should be up at least before the end of summer (hopefully). I'm just glad I was finally able to get this one out.**

**Thank you for still reading this and I hope that the writing has improved, honestly the next chapter will be the first that's not a total filler so it should be stronger as far as material goes. And hopefully the next chap will be longer.**

**Peace out.**


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